Is Expensive Prosecco Worth The Price? Blind Tasting Reveals A Measure Of Truth

Six Proseccos. Three hours. And one big unknown: the relationship between price and quality.

That was the set-up at a tasting I hosted last week, where the idea was to blind taste six different Proseccos and gather opinions about the taste and perceived value of each wine. The tasters, none of whom had ever worked in the wine business, reflected a positive cross-section of wine consumers in the US today: they are enthusiastic and frequent wine drinkers, both women and men of various ages and backgrounds, who purchase wine from a broad range of price points.

This was an experimental tasting in a relaxed environment, and it was not meant to be exhaustive or all-inclusive of every Prosecco available. I was curious about a simple question: could this representative group of consumers tell the difference, without knowing the label or producer or cost, between a Prosecco from the high end of the market and one from the lower end?

There's a short answer to this question, and then there's the But.

Here's the short answer: Yes.

Yes, we can pick out the finer-quality wine from a range of options, even tasting blindly.

But we are not necessarily willing to pay for it.

That's the truth of the matter that will drive a stake through the heart of top producers. We know those wines are better. We can taste it, and sense it intuitively. And after the retail cost of each of the wines was revealed, most of the tasters agreed that the higher-priced bottles were in fact worth the higher price tag.

The catch is that there are comparable enough options available that eclipse either the need or the desire to pay quite so much.

Say the words "comparable enough" and I can almost hear the groans of top Prosecco producers all the way from northern Italy.

Who could blame them? Retailers' shelves are full of lower-priced Prosecco options, many below $15. Prosecco is riding a strong wave of popularity and demand, which is bringing both more options and more volume to the marketplace.

The steepness of the hills of Valdobbiadene is a primary reason for the higher price of some Proseccos. Photo Credit: Cathy Huyghe

There are reasons why some bottles of Prosecco cost more, sometimes three to five times more, than others. For Gianluca Bisol, President and CEO of Bisol in Valdobbiadene, the primary reason is geographic. "You can have the best conditions for the grape of Prosecco only in the hills," he said. "Every time you go up in the scale of the quality of vineyards, there’s more and more work to do. In Valdobbiadene it’s very steep. You need about 800 hours of work for the same vine that, if it was positioned in the main land area lower down, you would need only 70 hours of work. It's 11 times more work in the vineyard for the higher quality grapes."

More work. More labor costs. Higher price.

We tried two of Bisol's wines in our blind tasting and they were the two most expensive wines, the Cartizze (at $50 suggested retail) and the Crede (at $25). The Cartizze also received the most favorable commentary before its price was unveiled, with compliments about its aromas and dry finish. At the other end of the spectrum was the Valle Calda Prosecco ($11). Tasters commented on its "metallic, bitter" flavors and the flatness of its mousse.

Even with Bisol's higher prices, his business is expanding. The winery enjoys annual growth rates that range from 10% to 30%, and its exports now reach some 80 countries outside of Italy. It's a stable growth, he said, that amounts to 20 times higher production now compared to 30 years ago, but with a "higher energy" growth in the past five years.

That "higher energy" has been well-documented. Last year, global sales of Prosecco reached 306 million bottles, up from 241.5 million bottles the year before. Prosecco's success has inspired imitators from places as diverse as Romania and Argentina; those imitators have in turn inspired a defense of Prosecco's heritage and its legally-designated production zones. It's barely known or recognized, but Prosecco's production area is smaller than the region of Champagne, the other sparkling wine that forms most people's frame of reference for Prosecco.

Prosecco is a hot wine, riding a wave of hot demand. It's worth tasting for yourself whether its top-quality offerings are worth the price.